The 1st Annual NWDC Scuba Haiku Contest

[spatman]

Let’s all have some fun, fellow board members! There has been a bit of bickering, brow-furrowing, consternation, and general harumphery these days, and it is time to put all of that aside and join together in something we all enjoy:

Expressing our love and experiences of scuba diving in the form of Haiku! That’s right, poetry. But not just any poetry, haiku. For those of you who need a reminder of what haiku is, here’s a blurb I borrowed from some university website:

The most common form for Haiku is three short lines. The first line usually contains five (5) syllables, the second line seven (7) syllables, and the third line contains five (5) syllables. Haiku doesn't rhyme. A Haiku must "paint" a mental image in the reader's mind. This is the challenge of Haiku - to put the poem's meaning and imagery in the reader's mind in ONLY 17 syllables over just three (3) lines of poetry.

So I am starting up the 1st Annual NWDC Scuba Haiku Contest!

With prizes to be awarded!!!



There are 5 categories in which you can enter your haiku:

Adventure
Technique
Equipment
Wildlife
and General, for any haiku that doesn’t fit in the other categories.


Here’s how it works:

- Post your clever haikus in this thread. There is no limit to how many one person can post.
- Be sure to tell us which category you are entering it into.
- The haiku must match the traditional form explained above, or else it will be disqualified!
- All submissions must be original. If anyone is caught plagiarizing a haiku, they will be disqualified and mercilessly mocked by some of the sharper wits on this board.


The deadline for submissions is midnight, October 4, 2008.


The Judging Process

Category Winners

Once all the submissions are in, a select group of judges* will narrow down each category into 5 haikus. A thread for each category will be posted to allow all of you to choose which haiku in each category is your favorite. The person with the most votes wins that category.

*If you are interested in being a judge, PM me. But remember - if you judge you can't enter the contest. It's only fair.


The NWDC Grand Haiku Champion

A new thread with the category winners will be posted and another round of voting will commence. You will then choose the overall Grand Haiku Champion of 2008!


Prizes

That’s right, some incentive! What good is a contest if there’s nothing at stake other than pride?


Each Category winner will receive:

1 beer! (5 winners + me = a sixpack)

porter.jpg (34.55 KiB) Viewed 1927 times

The grand Champion will receive:

… hm, let me see… [rummaging through boxes] …aha!

This stylish yellow Trident tank protector and utilitarian tank weight pouch!

And to commemorate the victory, the Grand Champion will also be presented with the NWDC Scuba Haiku Contest Trophy T-shirt:

Prizes will be award at the Sund Rock Club Dive, Saturday, Oct 25th.

So put on those thinking caps, folks, and channel that inner zen haiku master!

[60south]

Hee-hee! I love it. Good choice of beer. :occasion5: Uh, maybe the T-shirt slogan should be a haiku? Ha! Okay, first entry (can you tell I'm not doing anything today?). For the 'adventure' category:

Scuba under ice
Bubbles rise to crystal roof
A diver's mirror


And a teaser for the 'technique' category:

Diver with pink gear
Has excellent trim and skill
Should you wear pink too?

[spatman]

Uh, maybe the T-shirt slogan should be a haiku? Ha!

i actually considered that and just couldn't come up with a good one! maybe that should be another category....

[Joshua Smith]

I guess this would be "equipment", but it could also be considered "technique." By which I mean "lack of technique."

Dive till computer
starts beeping loudly at me
shoot to surface fast

[Penopolypants]

Technique or critter? Technique, I guess.

Wolfies at Sund Rock
Photo op great but I kick
Here come the silt clouds

[Penopolypants]

I'm having a hard time picking categories.

General, definitely

Northwest Dive Club threads
Can’t stay on track. ADD
Is prevalent here

Adventure?

Day Island Wall dive
Fishstiq and P are buddies
Look out cajones!

Wildlife?

Camera ready
I wait for focus to set
Damn! Fish butts again

Technique?

New diver's dust cloud
We were all like that once, chill!
Why you be hatin’?

[60south]

More technique...

Mystery hand sign
What is he trying to say?
Oh, big octopus.

[camerone]

Equipment:

Deep under the sea,
Do air share drill with a fish
Next time, breathe trimix.

[60south]

Wildlife...


Irukandji sting
will make you wish you were dead
or, in fact, kill you


Titan triggerfish
attacks in nesting season
don't bite me, bastard


My buddy hates sharks
I want to chum for sixgills
who can swim faster?



Adventure...

Tropical diving
No tech. Just rec. And good beer.
I am free at last!

[spatman]

crickets on this thread
scuba poets are rare here
not even for beer

[scottsax]

crickets on this thread
scuba poets are rare here
not even for beer

Hey! I'm just biding my time, waiting for inspiration to strike....

[Sounder]

Should not do haiku
No doubt will piss someone off
Learn Gas Management

[60south]

Ah, pissing! Good idea. For the technique category...

Need to pee so bad?
warm your wetsuit with gusto
not in a drysuit

For the general category...

under the water
it is not black or white but
many shades of blue

[Grateful Diver]

Hey! I'm just biding my time, waiting for inspiration to strike....

General

striving for haiku
forgets to follow the form
no prizes for you

[Grateful Diver]

General

Internet divers
inevitably digress
it's just what we do

[60south]

On NWDC
post any topic but know
all paths lead to beer

[airsix]

Adventure:

strange worlds I visit
I cannot explain to you
come with me and see

[Grateful Diver]

Wildlife

witness the rock crab
eating a dead octopus
we call it karma

[Kalatin]

General

In a rotten mood
Deep waters call to my soul
Peace comes with descent

Wildlife

Octo under a boat
Kelp floating in the current
Wonders for a newb

[LCF]

Wildlife

A silver ribbon
Fish appear before me, then
vanish into green.

Technique

Midwater challenge:
Trying for stability,
Blue hands steal my mask.

A graceful diver,
My buddy floats, immobile.
I look for his gills.

[spatman]

now the haiku flow
divers ponder for their art,
but really for beer

[Pez7378]

General

Cold water surrounds me
My heart beats faster
Descend into the darkness

Edited to reduce the syllables!

[scottsax]

Equipment:

Current kicks up hard
Finning seems to do nothing
Why did I buy splits?

Technique:

Too close to the wreck
I touch it and raise silt clouds
Back kick eludes me

[spatman]

General

Cold water it surrounds me
My heart is beating fast
Descending down into the darkness

that's a nice sentiment, pez, but the syllables don't match the 5-7-5 pattern...

[scottsax]

General:

I dream blue and green
Stillness and tranquility
I've found nirvana